A brave Australian woman risked her life and limb to save a severely burned koala from a bush fire in New South Wales. Her incredible heroism has been caught on video.
The woman, who gave her name as Toni, hurried in the burning trees and scrubbed to rescue a severely injured koala, tearing off her shirt to wrap up the terrified marsupial.
Intense footage issued this week revealed a wounded koala crawl across a roadway over the smoldering ground before it made its way up a tree.
Toni, using her shirt, grabbed the koala from the tree and ran away from the fire area where a man on the roadside helped her wrap the animal in a blanket, but not before dousing it with water.
The brave woman said she would bring the injured koala to the nearby Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, a facility that is treating up to 15 affected koalas, for further medications.
Video shows an Australian woman rescuing a koala from a bushfire in New South Wales. The marsupial has been treated for its burns and is still in "very serious condition," according to Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. https://t.co/HDcBlfSEyw pic.twitter.com/tW4P6HluwY — CNN International (@cnni) November 20, 2019
Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, according to Port Macquarie News, received an overwhelming amount of financial support worldwide thanks to a GoFundMe campaign, which has collected more than $800,000. The initial goal was $25,000.
The hospital, according to the fundraising page, initially set out "to [gather funds] to [buy] and distribute [drinking stations] which [would] be installed in the burnt areas to help in koala and wildfire survival." The infirmary, due to the incredible outpour of support, now managed also to put funds toward other important efforts.
"[Contributions] have now [relinquished] an incredible amount. We are extending the [plan] to [have] a wild koala breeding program," hospital officials said.
"In what is a national [catastophe], the bushfires in and around Port Macquarie in November [ravaged] a genetically diverse koala population," the GoFundMe page description reads. "As many as 350 koalas [died] with approximately 75 percent of the footprint being prime koala habitat."
Masses of koalas remain in danger as Australia's national bushfire emergency continues with no end in sight as high fire danger remains in effect for much of the Port Macquarie area. Officials said hundreds of the marsupials passed away as the fires around Port Macquarie in New South Wales churned at least 2.5 million acres of burned land.
Population estimates for the koalas vary. According to Reuters, some say Australia is home to as few as 50,000 koalas while others indicate about 100,000 are living in the country.
The bushfires spewing thick smoke have left Sydney covered with smoke. The situation forced more 100 schools to close due to poor air quality. Residents, according to BBC News, were warned Tuesday on severe fire danger and parts of the city recorded air pollution levels at eight times higher than normal.
Rising temperatures due to climate change - according to CBS News weather contributor Jeff Berardelli - dry out soil and vegetation, which in turn becomes more flammable.
"The trend is [usually] towards greater [precipitation] deficits in the atmosphere. Combined drier ground and relatively drier air [lead] to fires that grow faster and burn longer," Berardelli explained.
The fires, which have claimed the lives of at least six people, may only get worse this week. AccuWeather meteorologists predict an uptick in fire danger into Thursday as strong winds develop amid record-challenging heat.
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